The story here was the sheer physicality, aggression and brutality of the game – to be frank, not much football was played.

Physicality

The key statistic is 41:07 – that’s the ‘ball-in-play’ time. From 96 minutes of play, well under half that time was actually spent playing football, such was the extent of this stop-start battle, based around set-pieces. For purposes of comparison, that’s around 10 minutes less than for the Germany v France game earlier in the day, and it was extremely noticeable. Some free-kicks in shooting positions took over two minutes to take, and there were 54 fouls in the match.

Both sides took a very physical approach to stopping the opposition, and this felt like a parody of the type of games you regularly find in South America – two great number tens, not much else, and both sides kicking limps out of each other. James Rodriguez was kicked throughout the game, particularly by Fernandinho, while Neymar was also repeatedly fouled, and ended the game with a tournament-ending injury following a challenge from Juan Zuniga.

Referee Velasco Caballo allowed this violence to continue without reaching for his pocket and clamping down strictly on some of the stronger challenges. This was a huge surprise. Caballo is Spanish, and one of the major features of Spanish refereeing is how easily they book players, which is partly why La Liga is such a good place for playmakers to thrive, as they’re given such protection.

James Rodriguez

The star of this game was on the defeated side. James Rodriguez was sensational yet again in his number ten role, and while the crucial passes didn’t always come off, it’s remarkable that he was so capable of finding space in this utter bloodbath of a football game.

Rodriguez’s spatial awareness is absolutely brilliant, and he repeatedly darted in front of, and then in behind, the ultra-physical midfield pairing of Fernandinho and Paulinho. His best moment came on 22 minutes, with a rare piece of good counter-attacking play – Juan Cuadrado won possession in the right-back zone, and Rodriguez got the ball, jinked past two men to create a 4 v 2 break, and returned the ball to Cuadrado…but the winger made the wrong decision and passed straight at Thiago Silva. Cuadrado’s poor decision-making was a feature of this game, although Marcelo deserves credit for shackling him.

Only Rodriguez and Cuadrado have shone going forward for Colombia, with Victor Ibarbo and Teo Gutierrez very quiet, and with Cuadrado disappointing here, it was all on Rodriguez.

The moment that encapsulated Rodriguez’s experience in this match, however, was on 24 minutes, when he received the ball in front of Brazil’s midfielders, dribbled past Paulinho and then was fouled by Fernandinho when attempting to dribble past him, too. Fernandinho left his foot in, Paulinho closed in and made sure Rodriguez couldn’t get away, and within seconds, ten players were around the ball scuffling. Rodriguez kept hold of the ball, played a quick free-kick, and Colombia were on the attack – but Ibarbo didn’t realise the referee had waved play on, and conceded possession.

It summarised the game perfectly: Rodriguez showing great skill, Rodriguez being fouled, both sides wanting a fight rather than a game, Rodriguez the only man trying to play football, and his teammates letting him down with poor play.

At times it felt like Rodriguez was trying too hard – his passing was sometimes too ambitious, and he conceded possession frequently. But he was trying to make things happen, and the skill in this frantic game was about finding space in the first place, never mind actually playing the right passes. Rodriguez did that more than anyone.

Neymar found life more difficult, but received space towards the left of the pitch, often in a pocket of space thanks to Guarin’s advanced positioning (in comparison to the man he replaced, Aguilar) and the fact Zuniga stuck very tight to Hulk. Like Rodriguez, though, he often got the final pass wrong.

Really, there wasn’t too much more to the tactical battle. There was absolutely no flow to the game, and it took until midway through the first half before things settled down and either side started retaining possession. It was basically a game of set-pieces, which suited Brazil as the more physical side. Thiago Silva converted from a corner in the first half, David Luiz fired in a free-kick after the break.

Final 20

The pattern of the game barely changed until the final 20 minutes, when Colombia built pressure. Substitutes helped, with Carlos Bacca and Adrian Ramos on for Ibarbo and Gutierrez – those two, and Rodriguez, combined to win the penalty, which Rodriguez scored to put Colombia back into the game.

But this match wasn’t really about shapes, formations or individuals – it was about the pace of the game, and how the sides coped. And, at 2-1 up, Brazil didn’t cope. For some reason, they started absolutely thumping the ball downfield when they won it – with 20 minutes still remaining. They conceded possession readily, making no attempt to cool the tempo, or counter-attack to get a third goal. This seemed more about panic than deliberate strategy, and the obvious result was that Colombia kept on piling forward.

Scolari put on Ramires for Hulk to provide more midfield energy, then Hernanes for Paulinho to help retain the ball, and then finally Henrique replaced the injured Neymar to help deal with the constant pressure. None of the trio had much of an impact, and while Colombia couldn’t manage an equaliser, Brazil were incredibly nervous and lucky to hold on for the win

Conclusion

This will be remembered as a highly physical game, which got out of control. The two number tens attempted to play, the opposition concentrated on fouling them, and the referee didn’t clamp down.

There was no tactical battle for long periods, aside from the raw physicality. No-one had time on the ball, neither side built passing moves, and the battle in open play was basically a prelude to the various set-piece chances. Only Rodriguez rose above the brutality to show some nice touches.

63 Responses to “ Brazil 2-1 Colombia: Brazil prevail in a very aggressive game ”

bc989 on July 5, 2014 at 4:35 pm

The referee was a disgrace but the players shouldn’t be excused either. I think this was a deliberate tactic employed by a limited but energetic and brutal Brazil team. Colombia responded in kind when the ref failed to punish Brazil. Fernandinho was lucky not to be sent off yet again and sadly Neymar paid the price for Brazil’s brutality. I have never seen a match like that at any World Cup in the last 20 years.

Mark on July 5, 2014 at 4:56 pm

Yeah it was absolute carnage. The confedearations cup final was similar where Brazil fouled Spain to the point were hey could not play their football. not sure if their getting away with this cos they’re hosts or if its just the way refereeing is going at the moment.But your quite right the ref lost control of the game and just let everything go I’ve really enjoyed watching Columbia and it’s a shame they have gone out in a game like this.

Aaron B. on July 5, 2014 at 5:24 pm

The 2006 Portugal-Holland match was probably as brutal, only with the proper number of bookings… and that Portuguese side was also coached by Scolari.

Williar on July 5, 2014 at 10:31 pm

Ref was biased towards Brazil. Didn’t send Cesar off for the peno either. Plus Cuadrado was a pile of bollox.

volks on July 6, 2014 at 6:44 am

and what about the 2010 spain-holland final?

DyslexiaUntied on July 6, 2014 at 10:41 am

That final was more one-sided, with Holland doing most of the fouling, and Spain most of the diving (what’s worse depends on the viewers attitude towards football I guess) . Here, and in that NED-POR game, both sides were hacking away.

Calvera on July 5, 2014 at 4:44 pm

this was a Brazilian team painful to watch! I think Scolari should ask himself it it worth winning at any cost? the fact that T. Silva got suspended for a ridiculous fault compared to the other 30 unpunished ones, and also the injury of Neymar is kind of poetic justice for Scolari’s butcher tactics. I feel extremely sorry for Neymar himself, such a talent and a joy to watch, but I also cannot hide my feeling that Brazil as a team and Scolari in particular deserved to loose their clearly best player.

Imagine Colombia playing with a fit Falcao instead of Gutierrez. I m shivering already, that s the biggest lost opportunity of this WC.

Filipe on July 5, 2014 at 5:22 pm

Scolari only title this past decade (outside of last year’s Confederations Cup) was a Brazil Cup with a Palmeiras side so bad, it pretty much only fouled and scored out of set pieces (they made Stoke look like Arsenal and got relegated after he left), so I’m sure he is not losing any sleep out of bad football.

Absolutely disgusting. The fact is, refs are bottling it against Brazil just because they don’t want to be the one who potentially put the hosts out and cause rioting/depression across the country. The huge pressure on Brazil’s shoulders that the pundits talk about is also on any official’s shoulders. It’s a shame, Fernandinho should’ve been booked inside 20 minutes, and Brazil quite honestly had no skill or actual creativity aside from ‘give it to Neymar and hope’ – two set-piece goals, the second one frankly summed up the match. Rodriguez, kicked to death all game, has Hulk dive over him and gets booked. Awful, awful match.

Michael, I’m curious to know – how can Germany best beat Brazil whilst also avoiding the referee having too much of an influence?

aussiepride on July 5, 2014 at 4:57 pm

I also think Brazil are a complete mess at the back! Very little structure or communication and players constantly out of position. I cannot believe they have no been defeated! I did think Colombia could have been the team to punish Brazil on the counter but I felt that a lack of structure in attack cost them!

Definitely. It shocked me how they were hoofing clearances away with 20-30 minutes still to go. That shocked me. It literally felt like Brazil were a League 1-2 side against a PL side in the FA Cup, hanging on to their one-goal lead and hoping to get the ball up to a guy to relieve the pressure, like Costa Rica in ET in their match vs Greece.

José on July 6, 2014 at 7:34 am

And the Zuniga fault against Hulk?? I don’t like half of the truth.

Neider on July 6, 2014 at 8:05 pm

Brazil proposed that kind of game.

José on July 7, 2014 at 5:06 am

No,my friend. In milions of examples of games that have a team that committs fouls a lot, you have in the other side teams who commit a small number of fouls, and win matches. bayern, barcelona, etc.

If Colombia responded with fouls… that is because they had no better answer than paying back

Hrubesch Youth on July 7, 2014 at 12:18 am

Abolutely agree. It seemed to me the ref was extremely reluctant to show yellow cards, knowing Brazil’s top players (Neymar, Silva) were one caution away from suspension. Brazil absolutely took advantage, and the Colombians visibly lost their composure. In the end, both sides seemed to have lost…

Wonder if Colombia’s usual 4-2-2-2 would have worked better here, with James and Cuadrado on the wings and maybe Ramos next to Guterriez as link between midfield and attack. Could have been more effective in pulling the Brazilian defense out of shape (and at the same protecting James against Paulinho / Fernandinho).

aussiepride on July 5, 2014 at 4:53 pm

I totally agree with you about this game not being about formations or shape etc. I thought from a tactical perspective that the game was more like schoolyard football than an intense tactical affair which you would typically associate with a world cup quarter final! I do wonder if Colombia’s had managed to adopt more structure like they did in their group games and in the match vs Uruguay and had their holding player – Sanchez had managed to get a foothold in the game then perhaps Colombia would have settled and the result could have been different. Guarin got himself about but in general I feel that that his (along with quite a few of his team mate’s) passing was poor. I think the evidence of this was that Rodriguez continually had to drop deep on quite a few occasions to collect the ball. Ideally, you’d want him operating around the final third and playing high up the pitch on the counter!

Jim on July 5, 2014 at 5:00 pm

I’m sorry but can’t agree that a playmaker can be “sensational” when his team manages to only put a single shot on goal (excluding his penalty) in 90 minutes, even if his teammates up front were abysmal (no Martinez even as a sub?). He did well with the pass that earned the penalty but should have been making more runs with the ball once he realized he was getting nothing from his fellow attacking options. His service on corners (don’t think he took all 6) and on Colombia’s many free kicks was not good, let alone outstanding. Colombia’s best attacking player in an ugly game but not sensational.

Brazil’s last two games have featured an absurd number of fouls, but it’s not like their opponents haven’t used comparable tactics: Chile and Colombia each had 23 fouls (to Brazil’s 28 and 31, respectively). Let’s also not idealize this Colombia team as if this was an outlier in its fouling activity: in 5 games, Brazil has committed 96 while Colombia committed 91, and this was only the second game (Ivory Coast) where it didn’t commit more fouls than its opponent. Chile and Colombia may have just been trying to match Brazil’s style of play, but match it they did.

Matt B. on July 5, 2014 at 6:10 pm

Some games get testy and ugly over time, but this was a tactics of violence. It looked to me that Colombia came out looking to play, and got drawn into the fouling. What a sad state of affairs it is when Brazil, of all teams, have to rely on physicality alone to compete. Of course, you feel bad for Neymar, and you always want to see the best players out there, but when you resort to brutal tactics you are incurring serious risks not only to the opposing players, but to your own as well. I take no joy in saying this and I don’t revel in any injury, especially one to a player of the quality of Neymar, but in my opinion, Scolari reaped what he sowed in this case. Exactly the same can be said of the Thiago booking.

And, yes, you have to ask what on earth referees are for if it isn’t to take charge of a game like this, force teams to stop the constant fouling, and play football.

You really have to think the Germans watched this game and were licking their chops, however. I’m sure they’ll be perfectly happy to invite Brazil into possession, especially without Neymar, and counter-attack with the unparalleled pace and proficiency they have. There is no reason for Germany to fear Brazil dominating on set-pieces the way they did in this game, so why wouldn’t you just sit back and counter?

DyslexiaUntied on July 6, 2014 at 9:48 am

I doubt Germany will sit back and wait for counterattacks, that’s not their game at all.

Tony M on July 5, 2014 at 7:18 pm

I have no comment on the analysis, which I find to be just about perfect. I just wanted to say that this is an incredible site and the coverage of the World Cup has been the best on the web. Thanks for the great work.

Fan of El Loco on July 5, 2014 at 7:53 pm

Just curious if any of the 2010 Dunga haters are ready to beg for his return after this horror show. Dunga’s side was far more enjoyable:)

Very true as it goes! I still remember Maicon’s awesome goal vs N. Korea in the first game very well. Although their game vs Ivory Coast was very niggly if I remember.

dw on July 6, 2014 at 5:28 am

The highlight of Brazil v Ivory Coast was Kaka being redcarded after his opponent performed one of the most blatant dives in the history of the game.

José on July 6, 2014 at 7:35 am

Pffff. Brazilian hater

cafootball on July 6, 2014 at 1:19 am

Enjoyable & they only managed the quarters?
It’s unbelievable that because of internet access people think they are superior to a man who has made 3 world cup semifinals. It’s even more incredible you can reach a WORLD CUP SEMI FINAL but some people condemn you because they have some moralustic standard on how football should be played. Idealism & utopia in the modern era of football, unbelievable.

Tommy on July 6, 2014 at 4:34 am

We’re all here to discuss about tactics and football philosophy in general, not to value someone’s individual achievements. Please leave your ego and national/club jersey at the door, so we may continue.

SKPain on July 6, 2014 at 9:59 am

I’d prefer this side to Dunga’s.

Pedro on July 6, 2014 at 3:25 pm

I am a Dunga hater, and i prefer this side too. I didn’t find anything enjoyable in a side with Adriano (in terrible form) and a Fred-like Luis Fabiano as the frontmen.

That’s the thing, isn’t it? Dunga had probably the least talented group of any Brazil side in recent memory… sure, he could have called Pato, Neymar, or Ronaldinho, but there were obvious reasons not to do so.

Neymar was a teen and would have been for the bench only, Ronaldinho too undisciplined for the style Dunga was trying and not good enough anymore to change everything for him. I guess there was a decent argument for Pato, though I think he never was THAT good either.

By the way Adriano was not on the team, I think you might be thinking of Robinho.

I would say that Brazil’s two best players this time around – Neymar and Oscar – were 18 in 2010 and probably not much better alternatives than what he took.

Pedro on July 6, 2014 at 5:48 pm

True. Adriano was in the squad in 2006.

I have no problem admitting that my hatred towards that team is personal and not objective at all. I never saw Dunga as a good coach and had a tendency to dislike his decisions even before he made them.

Neider on July 6, 2014 at 8:17 pm

I quite enjoyed that Dunga team, they were deadly on the counter and when Kaka was in his prime, it was a joy to look at him gallop across mid-field. Robinho was good comming in from the left and had a great 2007 copa america. They commanded south american world cup qualification, and totally crushed argentina both on qualifications in Rosario as well as in the copa america final. The issue was that they peaked too early, and their dependance on Kaka led them to loose quiete a lot by 2010 when the formar had lost most of his form and pace due to repeated injury. They also weren’t able to cope with the fact of surprisingly falling behind a dutch team that with a freak of a goal. Most people dislike this team because they dislike for some reason dunga, and because it came right after the “joga bonito” era.

Sal on July 5, 2014 at 9:12 pm

You all are absolutely right. Atrocious refereeing. A horrid Brazilian side. And poor Neymar being stuck with a team who just wants to kick the daylights of the opposition. This is Brazil since 1986. This is why we all marvel at what Spain has done. I hope the Germans knock them out.

As for Colombia, they just seemed shell-shocked after the first Brazil goal. A little bit of experience and calm would have helped.

kane prior on July 5, 2014 at 9:45 pm

I thought brazil had the right approach generally in pressing Colombia back and stopping easy balls into Rodriguez. Colombia couldn’t break easily and were actually put under pressure for the first time in this tournament. But Brazil seemed to let the occasion get to them, they were completely unorganised and were extremely lucky not to have got more yellows and maybe even a red card. Colombia soon joined them in this approach and it became an incredibly poor game, fouls and set pieces constantly. Brazil were superior at set pieces to Colombia and this won them the game. But their disorganisation let Colombia back into the game and were again fortunate not to have gone into extra time.

Surely without silva and neymar and playing such chaotic football they will be opened up by Germany. Silva repeatedly covered for a lack of a collective defensive shape, while neymar has dominated this side and will be a bigger mental blow than anything else. Germany should be able to find space in midfield and play around this brazilian side.

Andrew on July 5, 2014 at 11:17 pm

There were 44 fouls before the referee showed the first yellow card. Even if the referee didn’t think any individual foul merited a yellow (and I thought at least several of them did by that point), there should have been some cautions for persistent infringement long before that.

Neuro on July 5, 2014 at 11:41 pm

This constant fouling and hacking down ‘tactic’ Mourinho did at 2011 Copa del Rey (with Mallenco not pulling cards), and was praised here.

Burt on July 7, 2014 at 8:20 pm

Not that it has anything to do with this game, but I hear ya. If Mou does something it is always said to be some sort of “tactical genius”, even when it’s mostly just parking the bus and/or hacking the opposition.

cafootball on July 6, 2014 at 1:29 am

It’s unbelievable that because of
internet access people think they are
superior to a man who has made 3
world cup semifinals. It’s even more
incredible you can reach a WORLD CUP
SEMI FINAL but some people condemn
you because they have some moralustic
standard on how football should be
played. Idealism & utopia in the modern
era of football, unbelievable.

I always ask my fellow tactics enthusiast; why not try to see what the coach was intending before calling out his mistake. What’s the point of being interested in tactics if you only want to see one approach, if you believe there is a “higher standard” of play than simply a tactic that works. Follow this guideline;
i) what was the coach’s intentions?

ii) why was it justifiable?

iii) why was it wrong?
No coach puts his team out to lose & that seems to be something that has been lost here.
I don’t want to get into justifying a coach who won the mat ch
better assess the weakpoints of gernany & brazil and try to predict the two coaches’ moves- not your own moves lol.

Neilb on July 6, 2014 at 2:26 am

The ref was whistling for everything, and was then caught in two minds whether to card players or not. I personally don’t think Spanish refs are known for carding so much as whistling for fouls ; two different things.

Basically the ref lost control of the game which played into Brazil’s hands more. This was evidenced on 70 minutes when they happily punted the ball up the park – this is a Brazil used to, and indeed happy to, win dirty. For such a team a ref needs to card early ish, and maintain consistency. He did neither, and the stop start nature of his refereeing left a lot to be desired

Jota on July 6, 2014 at 10:06 am

” I personally don’t think Spanish refs are known for carding so much as whistling for fouls ; two different things.”

Guess you are wrong. The Top 6 teams with yellow cards of all European leagues are Spanish clubs. The Top 20 consists of 11 Spanish and 9 Italian clubs.

Thanks for the post about World Cup. Just a tip about those who don’t live in countries that stream world cup online. You can use UnoTelly to remove the geoblock and stream World Cup 2014 in your country free https://worldcup.unotelly.com

bob on July 6, 2014 at 3:27 am

I don’t particularly care for the german team. They have booted my fave team out on too many occasions. However, in this instance I will hope against hope that they see these butchers of south america off. What an utter disgrace!

viki77 on July 6, 2014 at 10:46 am

I am with you on this one. Exactly the same feelings. I was rooting for Brazil up until quarterfinals. However I guess my feelings could still change if Brazil turn up to play football in semis.

Aldi on July 6, 2014 at 4:04 am

How about Zuniga the Colombian butcher – twice the man of the match for red Card … He goes straight on Hulk’s kneel before kneeling poor Neymar from behind ….

bob on July 6, 2014 at 6:41 am

sure red card for him.
But before the neymar incident, there was a total of three given fouls on neymar but six given on rodriquez and six given on cuadrado. there were also more than a couple not whistled for cuadrado. is it really a question tactically which team came out with a more cynical game plan!

DyslexiaUntied on July 6, 2014 at 11:03 am

It feels somewhat disingenuous to single out Zuniga when there was so much cynical fouling throughout the game, but yeah that was terrible.

However, I did see some good points in this Brazilian side – defensively they managed to keep COL away from the goal quite well (only 1 shot on goal I believe). Hulk is much maligned but he plays the often thankless role of Di Maria/Kuyt quite well, a tireless workhorse wearing down defenders and creating opportunities (and then squandering all of them). It’s easy to dismiss Brazil after such an awful carnage of a game but underneath it all there’s more skill than people give them credit for.

José on July 6, 2014 at 7:41 am

So here in this space, there is people defending what Zuniga made against Neymar. No , there’s no justification for what Zuniga made.

viki77 on July 6, 2014 at 10:53 am

Noone is defending Zuninga. On the contrary, he should have been carded. What is being pointed out is that:
a) Brazil came up with a cynical game plan to foul James.
b) referee did not do enough to get fouling under control.
I would say that Neymar suffered as a consequence of Colombian retaliation. It leaves me very sad. I blame the referee and Scolari.

aldi on July 6, 2014 at 3:31 pm

Facts about Brazil team : 118 Tackles suffered, most then any other team
95 Fouls suffered most then any other team

Shiraj on July 6, 2014 at 4:05 pm

“This is why I dive” -Robben

gaeymar on July 8, 2014 at 12:36 am

Haha, brilliant man, Ive never appreciated Robben so much until this tournament.

cafootball on July 6, 2014 at 4:31 pm

some interesting stats for all the brazil hate:
i) machine germany has scored only one goal in regulation time in the knockouts.

ii) inspired argentina has scored only one goal in regulatiion time in the knocjouts.

iii) tactical netherlands has scored two goals in the knockouts.

iv) basic brazil has scored 3 goals in the knockouts.

Germany were knocked out in the last two world cup semifinals without scoring a goal despite being favourites.

Let’s wait for tuesday.

Let’s see brazil pressing schweni & willian/hulk run that right wing to give fred crossing service. Oscar getting liberation to attack & a brazilian midfield where everyone is willing to carry the piano. Let’s see if Ozil will track alves

No team has been all that impressive. Argentina had been a one-man show til yesterday, and two of their best player (Aguero and Di Maria) are injured.

The Netherlands, quite obviously, were minutes away from being eliminated and required a penalty shootout to beat a tired Costa Rica.

Germany have maybe the strongest case, but they won on a set piece against France, and Algeria had them on the ropes at times. Since thrashing Portugal, they have not been nearly as impressive.

Brazil played “un-Brazilian” and are missing maybe their two best players in attack and defense. They are still playing at home and have a ton of great players. No one is writing them off, or saying the others are playing at a maximum level.

Neider on July 6, 2014 at 8:19 pm

Argentina has had probably one of the easiest roads to the semis I can remember in world cup history. The weakest group, a swiss team that got beaten 5-2 by france, and a debutante team in blegium that struggled all tournament to score.

DyslexiaUntied on July 6, 2014 at 8:23 pm

To be fair to the Dutch, it’s incredibly difficult for even the best of teams to look good against a ‘minor’ side parking the bus. The fact that Costa Rica only managed one (!) single shot on target in 120 minutes says a lot more about the game than just the 0-0 on the scoreboard.

evilcherry on July 7, 2014 at 2:35 am

And yet their “bus” caught the Dutch offside for an uncountable number of times.

They are trying to defend proactively, but their limited ability means they need to resort to counterattack tactics.

DyslexiaUntied on July 7, 2014 at 8:02 am

I’m not sure if you’re implying that playing an ultra-defensive formation means that the offside trap doesn’t work – if so I would strongly disagree. Pretty much all those offsides were called within Costa Rica’s box, CR were definitely not defending with a high line.

Neider on July 6, 2014 at 8:27 pm

As a Colombian I’ll express my disappointment at my team for comming into the game not really knowing what to expect from a semi, as well as arriving without attitude. You either have to be really candid or stupid not tho know before hand that the ref was probably going to give the benefit of the doubt and favor the local. Therefore the only way to compensate for that is comming in focused and with a killer instinct. Though the ref was bad, I concede that brazil goals were fair, and they did more to win. I ponder what would a team like Uruguay done in this match given the fact that they are fearles and without a shadow of inferiority complex. I think Colombia came in just too respectful and awe strucked of the Brazil jerseys.

Simon# on July 6, 2014 at 8:43 pm

like the conclusion. really like Tim Vickery. he’d said pre-game if brazil scored first, colombia would have to come out and Yepes lack of pace could be exposed if the back line had to play higher. they’ve used Tim V in some summary shows but as expected just won’t put him as a proper game pundit on tv. clueless !.

some dopey pundits after the early goal sprees said they “expected the goals to continue”…wish i could remember who..possibly the likes of danny mills. just clueless when the last few world cup winners have only conceded 2 goals ( 2006 /2010 & 1998 ) . & spain only conceded 1 at the last euro’s. so like your last line said all about set pieces, and all qtr’s went that way. open play goals very hard to come by… hummels for germ from a kroos f/k. t silva for corner. d luiz f/k. j rod pen. no goal holl v c rica. and 1 higuain goal for arg, and there was no direct assist on that goal either !

Les on July 7, 2014 at 1:19 am

After all the excitement in the earlier rounds what a terrible game, with a Referee apparently only there to spectate; I’ve read that around 54 fouls were awarded, but I think a more telling statistic would be to include the obvious fouls that were simply waved away – ‘move along nothing going on here’. That could highlight how many cards should have been shown, and perhaps how many should have been red, mainly to Brazil I suspect.
How sad to have to suggest this after so many decades of classic performances from them.
What worth is a Referee who refuses to officiate – I would hope he is now ‘considering his position’. It’s probably fanciful to expect FIFA to take any action on his performance.

DyslexiaUntied on July 7, 2014 at 2:29 pm

Oddly enough, this ref (Velasco Caballo) is still being considered for the final.

Vic on July 7, 2014 at 2:31 am

I think Brazil is being singled-out as the ‘ugly’ team here, but the Colombians weren’t exactly up for some jogo bonito either. In my opinion the referee is the one that caused this game to spiral out of control; as in all the other Brazilian matches this tounament, he got scared. I am Brazilian and the main target for our wrath as we watched the game was surely the ref. Apparently someone forgot to tell him that he was officiating a football match and not MMA!

This happened in every match Brazil has played. The ref can’t cope with the enormity of the occasion, and simply breaks down. The players are always going to step on the pitch with the adrenaline soaring, and will only be kept in check if they realise that the officials are strong enough to do so.